Dealing with The Emotional Side of Selling Your Waterloo Region Home

One of the biggest problems that home sellers find they eventually run into is being unable to detach themselves (to a certain degree) emotionally. Suddenly the home they have lived in, possibly for years, stops being so much of a home anymore because it has been stripped down and staged just like their Realtor, as well as all of the blogs, articles and videos they have been checking out – have been suggesting.

This is a good thing, in terms of your chances of actually selling your home, but it can still be hard to swallow. Which for many sellers comes as quite a surprise, as they had not expected to feel anything at all like this. And yet the sight of all the kids’ toys packed away, or the old sofa where the family pets have always dozed being (finally) replaced with something more suitable can be rather sad.

Emotions and Pricing

Another area where emotions can get in the way is price. After they have done a great deal of research, got a good home valuation and pored over all the comps, some would be home sellers are distressed to find that their home is not worth quite as much as they thought it would be.

They truly believe, for example, that the fact that their deck was built by their Grandfather with his bare hands and is a fine example of master craftsmanship rather than some generic Lowes kit build, should count for something. It is certainly nicer than anything the neighbors have.

So they fly in the face of logic – and the numbers – not to mention the advice of their Realtor, and insist on pricing their home too high anyway, because they cannot accept the fact that, while they love their deck and understand its significance, a potential home buyer will, in all likelihood, not really be bothered about the deck one way or another, as long as it is clean, big enough and not falling down. And the fact that Grandad built it? That’s a cute story but it’s not going to persuade them to offer a dollar more.

Therefore, the almost inevitable result is that the overpriced home – and its deck – does not sell, at least not until the seller admits defeat and lowers the price to a more reasonable level.

Learning to Let Go

In order to be successful in selling your home, you have to detach from it emotionally. It can be hard, but it has to be done. If something a buyer says about your home (that you were not supposed to hear) upsets you, ignore it. If they are discussing how they might rip out the breakfast bar you love so much look on the bright side, at least they are obviously able to picture themselves living in the house, which is a very positive sign.

If you really cannot stand to be around when strangers are talking about your home, or you find yourself defending it a little too much anyone comes to see it, the very best course of action is to just not be around when it is shown.

Occasionally you may not have time to make plans to physically be elsewhere – last minute showings do happen – but even if that is the case you could at least take the dog for a nice long walk, or go and grab a coffee with neighbour while your Realtor gets on with the business of showing your home in the right, detached and professional manner called for in order to get it sold.